Many people are turning to Zoom for business and social hangouts, but a select few have started using the service to stream their home weddings online.
Durban, South Africa (11 May 2020) – Zoom has become more than just an office tool. People have started using the video meeting platform to bring family and friends together for online weddings!
Lance and Amy decided to have their wedding online because they didn’t want to delay during the lockdown. The couple first got engaged 11 months ago, 04 June 2019. Lance proposed on top of the Royal Hotel roof. Amy and Lance started planning their wedding, found a venue and set a date, the 2nd of May 2020.
“With the outbreak of Covid-19 and the lockdown, and eventual extension of lockdown, we postponed our wedding to 1 August 2020. But realised this may not be possible so started planning a legal wedding and family ceremony for our original date. But this plan fell to pieces with the introduction of restriction levels and deeds office not opening fully.”
The new lockdown regulations threw a big spanner in their works. Amy and Lance lived in separate homes, waiting for their legal marriage before moving in together. With the lockdown moving the date of their pending nuptials, they realised the living situation was getting complicated. They had their new home ready and waiting but were also about to start paying for their separate flats too.
“We needed to get married so we could live together in our new flat we arranged weeks before lockdown struck, as can’t afford paying double rents indefinitely, especially with the economy in general, reductions in salaries, and possible retrenchments imminent.
So plan D was put into action – to get married “under God” on the roof of our house overlooking Durban, with our 3 housemates present as our witnesses. The minister, family and friends all watching online from the comfort of their own homes around the world, dressed up for the occasion.”
They wore their very best clothing, their roommate, a makeup artist did Amy’s hair and makeup, and Amy backed a beautiful cake. They invited their guests, 65 in total, and followed the ceremony with their minister on Zoom. They picked flowers from the garden and set up the wedding on their rooftop.
“Initially, we were planning to stream via Youtube, but the moment of the ceremony it failed to work so after 45 minutes of trying to get it working we switched to Zoom. It was complete chaos, but all worked out in the end, with no lockdown level 4 rules broken.
As our minister, Alice, mentioned in the ceremony: we didn’t get our dream Pinterest wedding but what we did get, is so much better and more special.
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The response from everyone has been overwhelming, with loving messages from family and friends from all over the world. We couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out, with our unique story and the beautiful memories we now have together during these unprecedented times.”
Lance feels they are now real wedding experts having tried to put on their wedding multiple times. He encourages other couples who have missed their selected wedding days, to use this moment to bring love and joy to those around them.
“So far we have planned somewhere between 3 to 5 weddings, just to have 1 wedding. We still plan on having our second wedding – the legal one and big celebration with all our people when we can all gather, hug and dance together, whenever that day comes. Hopefully, it’s not too far into the future.”
“We made sure we didn’t break any rules or restrictions. And hope it encourages others who find themselves possibly in a similar predicament as we did.”
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